Alan Wake II

Alan Wake II is a 2023 survival horror game developed by Remedy Entertainment and published by Epic Games Publishing. A sequel to Alan Wake, the story follows best-selling horror novelist Alan Wake, who has been trapped in an alternative dimension for 13 years, as he attempts to escape by writing a horror story involving an FBI agent named Saga Anderson. The game was released for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on 27 October 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Gameplay
Compared to the first Alan Wake game, which was an action adventure game with horror themes, Alan Wake II is a survival horror game played from a third-person perspective. Players play as Alan Wake or Saga Anderson in two separate single-player stories, which can be played in any order the player chooses; although the opening sequence and ending sequence of the game can only be played as Saga and as Alan, respectively.
Wake and Anderson traverse environments and fight enemies using various firearms and a flashlight, the latter of which can be "focused" to render enemies vulnerable to firearm attacks. Focusing the flashlight drains its battery, and players need to strategically use a limited amount of batteries and ammunition in order to survive. When enemies are close, Alan or Saga can perform a dodge maneuver.
Alan Wake II incorporates detective elements: when playing as Saga, players can always pause the gameplay to access an enemy-free space dubbed the "Mind Place". Described by Remedy as a "3D menu", the Mind Place is a visual representation of Saga's thoughts. In the Mind Place, players manage a pin board in which they can connect clues to piece together the main mystery, as well as profile characters to gather clues.
A returning element from Alan Wake is manuscript pages: players find pages of a manuscript that foreshadow upcoming events in the story. Unlike the previous game, Alan Wake II features a dialogue tree system.
Synopsis
Premise
13 years after bestselling writer Alan Wake went missing, a string of ritualistic murders occur in the town of Bright Falls, Washington. Saga Anderson, an FBI agent, is sent to Bright Falls to investigate the killings, where she finds herself tangled in a supernatural horror story written by Wake, in order to escape from his captivity.
Plot
FBI profiler Saga Anderson and her partner Alex Casey are dispatched to the town of Bright Falls to investigate a string of ritualistic serial murders. They investigate the fourth and latest victim, former FBI agent Robert Nightingale who had disappeared 13 years prior and was murdered by a group calling themselves "The Cult of the Tree". In addition to Nightingale's corpse, Saga finds a mysterious manuscript page that seems to predict the future. As they explore the town, they meet Sheriff Tim Breaker, who promises to assist them in the investigation. However, Saga notices that several people in Bright Falls act as if they have known her for a long time, despite this being her first visit to the town. Saga then performs an autopsy on Nightingale's corpse and finds another manuscript page inside his chest. Nightingale's corpse suddenly reanimates and escapes the morgue while Breaker mysteriously vanishes.
As they pursue Nightingale to Cauldron Lake, Alex admits that he had previously investigated a murder cult dedicated to bringing back the missing Alan Wake by reenacting the murders described in his books, and he knew Nightingale came to Bright Falls to pursue Alan. Saga encounters Nightingale, now converted into a Taken, and is forced to kill him, which causes the waters of Cauldron Lake to recede. Saga then finds Alan Wake washed up on the shore of the lake and takes him into custody while also discovering evidence that an organization called the Federal Bureau of Control has a presence in Bright Falls. Saga and Alex take Alan back to their field office, where he recounts how he managed to escape from the Dark Place.
While trapped in the Dark Place, Alan continually tried to write a way to escape. He then encountered an eccentric Finnish janitor named Ahti who pointed him toward a special angel-shaped desk lamp called the "Angel Lamp" which had the power to store and transfer light, which in combination with his writing ability allowed him to manipulate the Dark Place to better navigate it. Alan began navigating a dark, twisted version of New York City, following the trail of Alex Casey's investigation of the "Cult of the Word" led by Alan's evil doppelganger Mr. Scratch which brought him through the various scenes of the murders committed by the cult. Along the way, Alan also encountered Breaker, who was searching for the talk show host Mr. Door, believing he is responsible for trapping him in the Dark Place. Alan also occasionally made brief contact with Saga, the two of them trading vital information when they could. After being forced to kill Thomas Zane, who had gone insane from his captivity inside the Dark Place, Alan was contacted by an alternative version of himself, explaining that his repeated attempts to escape the Dark Place is causing him to experience time loops.
Back in the present, Alan explains that he wrote a new novel, "Return", that helped him escape the Dark Place. However, Scratch re-edited the manuscript into a horror story that is now taking effect in reality. Alan warns that Scratch is searching for the Clicker, which is the key he needs to completely free the Dark Presence, but the Clicker is also the key to permanently defeat it. With one of the manuscript pages mentioning the Cult of the Tree possesses the Clicker, Saga decides to follow its trail, and realizes that "Return" has rewritten her past so that her daughter Logan drowned in an accident. Angered that Alan wrote her and Logan into his story, Saga recovers the Clicker but before she can get it to Alan, agents from the FBC led by Agent Estevez arrive and apprehend him.
With no other options, Saga tracks down Odin and Tor Anderson, who know more about the Clicker. As she communicates with them and rescues Tor from a Taken Cynthia Weaver, she learns that Odin and Tor are actually her grand-uncle and grandfather respectively, and she inherited their seer abilities, allowing her to discern the changes to reality "Return" is causing. Odin and Tor also explain that the Clicker doesn't do anything by itself, but instead greatly enhances the creative power of the person using it, which is why it is important to Alan and Scratch. Saga then heads back to Bright Falls to get the Clicker to Alan, but finds out to her horror that the Alan that escaped the Dark Place isn't the real Alan, but Scratch. Scratch escapes from captivity and attempts to take the Clicker from Saga, but is temporarily thwarted and banished thanks to the FBC's technology.
Realizing that the real Alan is still trapped in the Dark Place, Saga enlists the help of Alex, Odin, Tor, and Estevez to carry out a ritual to summon him to the real world. Meanwhile, Alan continues to try and find a way out of the Dark Place, eventually making his way to his old apartment. There, he discovers his wife Alice had been tormented with visions of Scratch, eventually leading to her suicide. In anger, Alan kills another version of himself that he believes is Scratch, but is horrified to learn he killed a version himself who was attempting to fix "Return", perpetuating the loop. Back in the real world, the summoning ritual fails to summon Alan, and Saga comes to the realization that Alan and Scratch were always the same person, with Scratch being a version of Alan who is possessed by the Dark Presence. Scratch arrives at the summoning site and Saga is able to banish him from Alan's body, only for Scratch to possess Alex instead, steal the Clicker, and throw Saga into the Dark Place.
With Scratch in possession of the Clicker, Alan concludes that the only way to stop him now is to write a completely new ending for "Return". He returns to his Writing Room with Ahti's help and tries to work out how to write a perfect ending that saves everybody while still staying consistent to the horror genre. Meanwhile, Saga fights off the Dark Presence's attempt to overwhelm her with her own negative emotions and self doubt. She receives aid from an anonymous woman who directs her to the Clicker and a Bullet of Light. Saga takes the two items and escapes back to the real world. With the Clicker, Alan is able to banish Scratch from Alex's body. Scratch returns to possessing Alan, and Saga shoots him with the Bullet of Light, seemingly killing both him and Scratch. Saga tries to call Logan to confirm her safety but the scene cuts short before any answer can be heard.
In a post-credits scene, a recording left behind by Alice reveals that she had managed to fully regain her memories of what happened to Alan. She had actually tricked Alan into thinking she committed suicide as part of a plan to help him eventually escape the Dark Place, explaining that the only way he can escape the loops is through "ascension". Alan then revives from his gunshot wound and utters, "It's not a loop, it's a spiral."
Development
Remedy Entertainment released Alan Wake in 2010. Remedy learned from their lessons working on Max Payne and wrote Alan Wake in a way that allows additional story to be told through sequels and additional installments. The team quickly began to discuss sequel ideas after Alan Wake was shipped. The sequel would continue to star Alan Wake as the protagonist, but it would also explore the stories of the supporting characters including Wake's friend Barry Wheeler and Sheriff Sarah Breaker. A prototype was created to show off the gameplay of Alan Wake 2 when the studio was showing the game to potential publishers. New enemies and new gameplay mechanics, such as being able to rewrite reality, was showcased in the prototype. Narratively, it will be a direct continuation of Alan Wake. Ultimately, Remedy pitched the project to Alan Wake publisher Microsoft Studios. Microsoft, however, at the time was not interested in a sequel and instead, tasked Remedy to create something new. This ultimately became Quantum Break, which was released in 2016. Most of the ideas for Alan Wake 2 were implemented in American Nightmare, a downloadable follow-up for the original Alan Wake game.
When Quantum Break was announced, Sam Lake explained that a sequel to Alan Wake had been postponed, and that Alan Wake was not financially successful enough to receive the funding they needed to continue developing the sequel at the time. Director of communications Thomas Puha stated in April 2019 that Remedy had briefly returned to work on an Alan Wake property about two years prior, but the effort did not work out, and the company is presently booked for the next few years, between their own new game Control, supporting Smilegate on its game CrossfireX, and another new project. Puha said that the only limited factor for them to work on an Alan Wake sequel was "time, money, and resources". Despite that, Lake continued to be part of a team in Remedy to brainstorm ideas and work on different incarnations for Alan Wake II. Internally, the project was code-named "Project Big Fish", which represented its importance and significance to Remedy. In the second downloadable content pack for Control, Remedy's next game following Quantum Break, Alan Wake was featured as a character. According to Remedy, Control established the "Remedy Connected Universe" which is shared by both Control and Alan Wake, and that the next game released by the studio will also be set on this universe.
According to Sam Lake, the game will be powered by Remedy's own Northlight Engine, which previously powered Quantum Break and Control. Lake also stated that Alan Wake II will be a survival horror game, as opposed to Alan Wake, which Lake said was "an action game with horror elements", though he did not explain the difference between the two. Lake further added that players will not need to play the previous games in order to understand Alan Wake II. Remedy confirmed the game would remain in the third-person perspective despite the switch to survival horror, and that both Ilkka Villi and Matthew Porretta would return to provide the appearance and the voice of Alan, respectively.
Overall budget for the game reportedly stands at €70 million, with €50 million in development and an additional €20 million spent on marketing. This is considered to make the game one of the most expensive cultural products in the history of Finland.
Release
In July 2018, Remedy CEO Tero Virtala stated that any further sequels to Alan Wake would require Microsoft Studios' approval as the publishing rights holder, though Remedy otherwise owns all other IP rights to the series. In July 2019, Remedy fully acquired the rights to Alan Wake from Microsoft, including a one-time royalty payment of about for the game series' past sales, which helped pave the way for a sequel.
In 2020, it was announced that Remedy had signed with Epic Games Publishing for the release of two games. Remedy released Alan Wake Remastered in October 2021 as the first game of this partnership, while the triple-A game was revealed to be Alan Wake II when the game was officially announced at the Game Awards 2021. Free downloadable content packs and two paid expansions, titled Night Springs and Lake House, will be released after the game's initial launch.
In May 2023, it was announced that Alan Wake II would be a digital-only release, with Remedy rationalizing that many players had already shifted to only buying games digitally, so they wanted to ensure the game maintains a low price, and they didn't want it to require a separate download even if a physical version was released. In August 2023, the release of the game was delayed by ten days to 27 October in order to avoid competition from other games (such as Marvel's Spider-Man 2).
Reception
Alan Wake II received "universal acclaim" for the Xbox Series X/S version, and "generally favorable reviews" for the PlayStation 5 and Windows versions from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. On the review aggregator website OpenCritic, the game received a 91% critics recommendation.
Andrew Farrell of PCGamesN in his Alan Wake II review awarded the game 9 out of 10 saying, "Alan Wake 2 is a marvel, serving up intense gameplay, a twisty, dark story, and more secrets and surprises than you could possibly imagine. Remedy has outdone itself here, delivering a truly remarkable experience."
References
External links
2023 video games
Survival horror video games
Epic Games games
Windows games
PlayStation 5 games
Xbox Series X and Series S games
Remedy Entertainment games
Third-person shooters
Video games developed in Finland
Video game sequels
Video games about the paranormal
Detective video games
Video games featuring black protagonists
Video games set in New York City
Video games set in Washington (state)